Archdiocesan
News Archive
Posted on Wednesday September 30, 2009
Minutes Of The Our Lady Of The Angels Pastoral Council Meeting Of June 16, 2009
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Our Lady of the Angels Regional Pastoral Council
Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the
Our Lady of the Angels Regional Pastoral Council
Held Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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A regular meeting of Our Lady of the Angels Regional Pastoral Council (“OLARPC”) was held on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, at 7:15 p.m., at Our Lady of the Angels Regional Offices, in Culver City, California.
Attendees: Bishop Edward Clark, Dn. Dave Estrada, Dn. Hosea Alexander, Loraine de Jesus, Tanya Gutierrez, Andrew Knox, Jane Leung, Dn. Scott Palmer, Sr. Bernadette Murphy, John Fisher, and Doris Tims.
Each council member read a section from the opening prayer, Inspired By The Lord’s Prayer, by St. Francis of Assisi.
Bishop Clark presided over the meeting with Loraine as moderator and Jane recording the minutes of the meeting.
The first agenda item was a review of the May 19th meeting minutes which included revisions from Bishop Clark.
Bishop Clark informed the council members that the Archdiocese had wanted to convert to an all-email system in June, but it is not possible to implement the plan now. However, Bishop Clark would be able to implement an email system in the OLA region which could then be used to disseminate information to the parishes.
A motion to approve the minutes was made by Tanya and seconded by Dn. Hosea, and the minutes were approved.
Next was the review and approval of the Regional Pastoral Council Report to Pastors and Principals on Catholic schools. Revisions suggested by Bishop Clark were reviewed. A discussion of each recommendation ensued.
Sr. Bernadette commented on the additional burden placed on pastors regarding training in Catholic education. Bishop Clark countered that pastors with no experience need training, especially foreign-born priests who don’t have experience running Catholic schools in the U.S.A. Pastors sign the contracts and hire the principals, and they need to have the knowledge and training to supervise.
Bishop Clark cited the Central American countries where Catholic schools are not parochial schools but private schools for the elite. The priests from that region may not have been in a Catholic school, and suddenly they find themselves in a Hispanic parish in the U.S. and must run a school. These priests come to the U.S. and encounter difficulties working with the principal.
New pastors should be given adequate training in the process of becoming a pastor if he has no prior experience.
The Archdiocese put together a one day initiation program for new pastors which focus only on schools, and there is also a two-week pastoral training program focusing on parish organization and administration.
Tanya commented that the recommendations seem to have two different visions of the Catholic school system – the Catholic school system as a whole, and the other is the parish school. Bishop Clark remarked that we’re looking at a cooperative plan within our region. We have a system of schools, not a school system. The schools belong to parishes, or to religious communities in some cases. The pastors complain that the school is not involved in the life of the parish. In some cases parishes will have to be on the board of a school and work as a team, for example, by learning how to share financial responsibility, especially where a wealthier parish and a poor parish support one school.
Dn. Scott commented that not all these recommendations will be applicable to all schools. We are just trying to address all the issues to help pastors.
Sr. Bernadette also referred to the viability study – we need to keep in mind there are schools that have low enrollment but otherwise have high viability and a strong Catholic identity. There is tremendous diversity across the region, and there are some schools in the region with low enrollments that are taking steps to remain viable, such as having some teachers become part-time. These schools are concerned about their accreditation. What are the values that you are looking at when talking about viability?
More discussion about viability issues ensued and about numbers. Dn. Dave commented that numbers and finances are important to viability. Bishop Clark commented that the report is not meant to be a comprehensive educational plan. The numbers will not mean anything in some parishes but they will mean a great deal to others.
The discussion turned next to charter schools. Sr. Bernadette asked, what are the criteria for a school to be a charter school? There are a lot of issues to a school becoming a charter school. Bishop Clark commented that the Archdiocese has to have standards, and he stated that the decision to convert to a charter school should be out of the hands of the pastors. It is not up to the pastor to turn a school over. This is to reduce the risk of endangering or impairing the success of neighboring Catholic elementary and secondary schools.
Loraine called for the question on approval of the recommendations. Sr. Bernadette motioned to approve, and Dn. Hosea seconded the motion. The motion passed.
Loraine discussed the next agenda item, the evaluation of the Regional Council’s work for the year 2008-2009 and how the year went. Council members can take the form home and reflect and email their answers.
Dn. Scott asked council members to evaluate their personal participation on the council, their availability to serve and their commitment to the council’s objectives.
Tanya commented that she really enjoyed the format of the meetings this year. The material provided as background information for the meetings were really enlightening and a great learning experience.
A discussion ensued about the old model of meetings vs. the current model. In reference to the old model of meetings, Bishop Clark stated that the committee and subcommittee structure was not working for us in terms of making recommendations to the parishes. The current model enables the Regional Council to read the research materials before making recommendations.
Dn. Hosea liked the Leadership Forum meetings and would recommend it to other regions. The involvement of parishes provides viability to the Regional Council. Doris commented that the format was much better because we could contribute more by reading the materials in advance; and the leadership forums should be continued. The Finance Council Workshop was excellent because she saw enthusiasm at her parish for establishing what was recommended at the workshop.
Loraine commented that we really felt like an advisory board to Bishop Clark this year, and Sr. Bernadette added that the lively interaction among the council members has been worthwhile.
Loraine stated that the challenge we face is to find people who are committed to attending the meetings and workshops regularly.
The council discussion turned to the purpose of the Regional Council.
Bishop Clark commented that at the end of the last council meeting, he was not in agreement with the Office of Justice and Peace Commission’s request to have a member of the Regional Council sit on the commission. The Regional Council serves as an advisory board, not a coordinating council . Moreover, our RPC does not have a specific committee on justice issues.
Dn. Dave explained that the Office of Justice and Peace wants to have a member of the regional councils serve as links for sharing ideas and communication to the regions. The Archdiocesan Pastoral Council (APC) would like to work on a common theme (such as vocations) but would not infringe on the Bishop’s priorities.
Dn. Scott commented that one of his concerns is, although we’d like to help, we don’t need any more work. Anything that the APC is trying to do may be physically hard to meet because of fewer Archdiocesan staff available. The work then spills out to the Bishops.
Dn. Dave remarked that the reason the APC goes to the Bishops is to create a common goal to accomplish the Synod initiatives. Each regional council sends three members to sit on the APC, and these members report back to their respective councils. Dn. Dave has noticed the emerging role of the laity in the regions, bringing their talents to implementing the Archdiocese Synod initiatives. Laypeople in the regions are being recognized, utilized and appreciated in new ways by the Archdiocese. It has made a difference in what can be accomplished with the Synod initiatives in serving the faithful.
Dn. Scott brought up the Year of the Priest as an example of what is requested of the regional councils. The Priest Council wants the regional councils to help organize something to promote priests and honor priests. Bishop Clark commented that he doesn’t want the council members to be involved –putting on programs or implementing is not the purpose of the council. It advises the Bishop on the issues in the region. Most Regional Council members are already members of a parish council.
More discussion ensued on the role of the Regional Council. Sr. Bernadette commented on council members’ work on task forces - sometimes the task requires more expertise than they have. Bishop Clark clarified that when council members work on a topic, they are free to ask other people who are not council members to help prepare the research for the topic. Their responsibility is to see that the important research materials are collected and disseminated to council members in advance of the general discussion.
Dn. Scott passed out evaluation forms to the council members to complete and return via email.
Next on the agenda was a discussion of topics for the year 2009-2010. Loraine stated that we need volunteers to help us with the topic of Development of Finance and Parish Councils that will be discussed at the September 15th meeting. The target date for mailing out the information packet is August 15th. We need to discuss what the definitions and responsibilities are for finance and parish councils
The topic for November 2009 is Evangelization with an Emphasis on Hospitality. John and Dn. Hosea will lead this committee and have the information packet for distribution to the Council by October 15, 2009.
A discussion regarding parish councils and finance councils followed. Bishop asked if the Parish Pastoral Council Guidebook was updated yet. If yes, it would be part of the packet of data for council members. What recommendations can we make to the parishes regarding the role of parish and finance councils in the future? Many parish councils are nothing more than coordinating councils, rather than being an advisory council to the pastor.
Dn. Dave added that the San Gabriel region will probably have a Finance Council meeting in February of 2010.
Tanya commented that Hortense has a lot of data on parish councils. The target deadline for mailing out the Finance/Parish council data is August 15, 2009.
Doris can contact Hortense and work on the task force. Dn. Dave added that he could get copies of the Parish Pastoral Council Guidebooks if needed for the packet of information to be distributed to council members.
Loraine discussed the top two topics that were brought out of the April Leadership Forum meeting that will be discussed at the January 2010 and March 2010 Regional Council meetings. One topic was stewardship (time, talent and treasure), and the other was how to keep young adults involved in the parishes . A list of the top ten topics was given to Bishop Clark for further review.
Dn. Scott discussed the Regional Council elections. The Moderator comes from the current Executive Committee. Loraine was nominated and will be Moderator for the next year. Jane was also nominated to be Secretary for the next year. By self-nomination, additional positions to be filled are Vice Moderator and two at-large members. Dn. Scott will email council members regarding the open positions and voting. Caitlin will be stepping down from the Regional Council; however, she will remain on the APC as the Cardinal’s appointee.
Dn. Scott will organize a Membership Committee (comprised of Loraine, Dn. Scott, Tanya and Jane) to review nominees, provide information on the nomination process to the candidates, and meet with new members prior to the September Regional Council meeting.
We need to find dates and availability for Parish Council and Finance Council Workshops for 2010.
Dn. Scott gave an update on the Parish Vocation Plan. All parishes need to establish a parish vocation plan and appoint a parish vocation contact and parish vocation committee to implement their plan. Bishop Clark sent out a sample vocation plan to the parishes. Each parish is required to have the vocation plan forms completed and returned to Bishop Clark by July 30th.
Dn. Scott made the following announcements:
The Year of the Priest will begin on June 19th
We will need two members of the Regional Council to sit on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council since Caitlin and Hortense are leaving the Regional Council this year.
Dates for the Regional Council meetings for 2009-2010 are:
September 15, November 10, January 19, March 16, May 18, and June 22.
The next Leadership Forum will be held on April 21, 2010 with the location to be arranged.
Dates for the open Deanery Presentations in 2010:
February 9 – St. Frances Cabrini D16
February 19 – St. Vincent D15
March 8 – St. Augustine D13
March 11 – Immaculate Heart of Mary D14
All Regional Council members are strongly urged to attend the open Deanery Presentations.
Dn. Dave announced that January 16, 2010 will be the date for the Interregional Gathering of all five Regional Councils at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks and asked that members of OLARPC attend the gathering.
Dn. Dave also requested that the OLA Region name a contact person who can help the APC implement the Synod initiatives in the future.
Environmental concerns will be coming up as a topic for the regions. Bishop Clark replied that the request will be discussed in a future meeting.
All council members recited the closing prayer and the meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jane Leung
